Working conditions

Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW

Assistants, Junior Professionals Programme, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, Pensions, Petition, Secretaries and clerks, Staff Categories, Staff Regulations Reform Print This Post

The secretarial and clerical assistants (AST/SC) function group (FG/’GF’) was introduced by the 2013 revision of the staff regulations (SR) that entered into force 01.01.2014.

The established ‘dinosaurs’ trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) did not oppose the creation of the AST/SC category in 2013. Now they hypocritically claim that they care about the AST/SC staff and want to help them. What they really care about is getting the AST/SC votes in the forthcoming staff representation elections. Continue reading Stop the AST/SC exploitation NOW →

Teleworking from abroad: YES, WE CAN!

COVID-19, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2021-06-16, Teleworking Print This Post

Who said teleworking from outside the place of employment (TWA) [1] cannot be reconciled with the interest of the service and our duty to serve the public?

Generation 2004, the most progressive and modern staff association, is always listening to the needs of staff and negotiating the most advanced proposals for a state-of-the-art and human EU civil service with the administration. Continue reading Teleworking from abroad: YES, WE CAN! →

‘Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest: winners!

additional teleworking costs, Cost of living Luxembourg, IT kit for telework, Newsletter - 2021-05-21, Teleworking, Working conditions Print This Post

Thanks to all of you who submitted photos of your home-office/kitchen-table/cupboard-under-the-stairs/garden IT setup and your increased bills and accommodation costs. We always appreciate your interaction and comments and you can still send us your teleworking photos and evidence of costs incurred: let us know where and how you are working! Continue reading ‘Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest: winners! →

Get ready: the return to the office is starting in June

COVID-19, Newsletter - 2021-05-21, return to the office-new normal, Teleworking, Working conditions Print This Post

At last, on Wednesday evening (19.05.2021) HR announced a date for the start of operation ‘return to the office’: from Wednesday 9 June onwards the Commission anticipates moving from phase 0 to phase 1. In practice, this means that while teleworking will remain the norm, staff will be encouraged to go to the office, still on a voluntary basis. The maximum presence in the buildings – to be complied with at all time – will be raised to 20%. The canteen in the Berlaymont building will be reopened. Continue reading Get ready: the return to the office is starting in June →

Hot-desking: do not mistake the finger for the Moon!

Newsletter - 2021-05-21, Open Plan Office, return to the office-new normal, Social Dialogue, Working conditions Print This Post

*update 22.02.2022: we’re hearing that colleagues are changing DG in order to avoid open space/hot-desking. Is this you? Get in touch, we’d like to hear from you!*

In the COVID information meeting of 30 April 2021, the Director of Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OIB), Mr Marc Becquet, accused trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) of spreading fear and discontent among staff by sending too many messages and tracts on hot-desking and workplace arrangements. Continue reading Hot-desking: do not mistake the finger for the Moon! →

The future: no more lunch in Commission buildings

Childcare, Newsletter - 2021-05-21, return to the office-new normal, Working conditions Print This Post

If you were fantasising about returning to the office one day and resuming the usual lunch with colleagues [1], think again!

The new L107 (the ONE, Brussels), apparently the role model for all Commission buildings in the very near future – will not have a canteen, even though it will house more than 1500 staff – indeed, such a large number of people would fully justify the presence of a canteen. So, it seems that with the ‘new normal’, everybody who wants to eat in this showpiece Commission building will be treated to the following choice: either try to run faster than the others to get a spot at the – very small! – cafeteria in the building or lose a lot of precious time to go to possibly overcrowded canteens in other buildings. Continue reading The future: no more lunch in Commission buildings →

New teleworking scheme: longer working days and more micromanagement?

Childcare, Health, IT kit for telework, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2021-04-28, Open Plan Office, Staff Regulations Reform, Teleworking, Working conditions Print This Post

During our 13 months of compulsory 100% teleworking for almost all of us, Generation 2004 has submitted to DG HR countless requests to start a dialogue on the conditions under which staff were and are expected to work from home – both in the current force majeure global-pandemic situation and when staff are able to go back to the office. DG HR finally reached out to the trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) for a social dialogue meeting focusing on teleworking (16 April) which we very much hope to be the first of many such meetings. Continue reading New teleworking scheme: longer working days and more micromanagement? →

Generation 2004’s position on ‘sofagate’ and beyond…

Newsletter - 2021-04-28, Working conditions Print This Post

The president of the Commission published a speech  (26 April 2021) where she states that she considers the ‘sofagate’ events of 7 April to have been gender discrimination.  Until then, and in the absence of details and statements it was important to keep a cool head and to view the whole affair in all its complexity to look at all the factors that might have played a role. Continue reading Generation 2004’s position on ‘sofagate’ and beyond… →

Welcome to ‘The Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest

additional teleworking costs, IT kit for telework, Newsletter - 2021-04-28, Teleworking, Working conditions Print This Post

*We would still like to receive your pics and stories*

Still working at the kitchen table after 13 months? Your bills increased exponentially? Cannot afford a decent home office with your salary?

If all of this sound familiar, it is time to participate in our photography contest!

Send us pictures of your home office set-up, your bills before and after compulsory teleworking started Continue reading Welcome to ‘The Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest →